Tuesday, November 5, 2013

An F-35 executed its first live-fire launch of a guided air-to-air missile over a military test range off the California coast on Oct. 30. The AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) was fired from an F-35A conventional take-off and landing variant operating from the F-35 Integrated Test Facility at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The test pilot employed the AIM-120 radar-seeking missile from the internal weapons bay against an aerial drone target in restricted military sea test range airspace. Moments before the missile was about to destroy the target, a self-destruct signal was sent to the AIM-120 in order to preserve the aerial drone for use in future tests. The test occurred the day after an F-35B variant successfully dropped and air-to-ground 500-pound Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12) Paveway II laser-guided bomb over a test range. (Source: AFNS, 10/30/13) Previous